By the end of 2019 a number of extraordinary pronouncements signaled that corporate governance had reached an inflection point. In the U.K., the British Academy published Principles for Purposeful Business. In the U.S., the Business Roundtable issued its Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. In Switzerland, the World Economic Forum published The Davos Manifesto 2020.

These statements gave voice to evolving trends and assumptions that had been transforming corporate governance over the course of the last decade.

1. Recognition that environmental, social and corporate governance policies (ESG) represent material risks and opportunities directly impacting financial performance;
2. Reassessment of the shareholder primacy doctrine and the narrow view of corporations as nothing more than profit machines;
3. Adoption of “sustainability” as both a strategic goal for companies, an antidote to short-termism and a path to strengthen public trust in business and the capital markets;
4. Acknowledgement that companies must serve the interests of their “stakeholders” as well as their shareholders;
5. Reassertion of the principle that corporations must be accountable for the human, social and public policy implications of their activities, with an urgent focus on climate change;
6. Understanding that a corporation’s “culture” is reflective of its integrity, its internal well-being, its sustainability and its reputation.
7. Acceptance of expanded board accountability for ESG issues, sustainability, purpose and culture and working with the CEO to integrate these factors into business strategy;
8. Emergence of the integrated reporting movement [www.integrated reporting.org] with its program of integrated thinking and integrated management as the basis for corporate reporting.

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